Compensation for flea bite worker

A woman who won her unfair dismissal claim after being bitten by fleas has been awarded compensation.

Waitress Maria Moon was sacked in May 2008 from her job at Hafan y Môr holiday centre in Pwllheli, Gwynedd.

A tribunal accepted that she had been sacked because she raised health and safety issues after suffering the flea bites in a chalet where she lived.

ACAS, the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service, would not disclose how much Ms Moon had been awarded.

Ms Moon, 46, had been appointed to work in a new coffee shop at the site - which was formerly owned by Butlins.

'Feverish'

She told a tribunal, in November last year, that the chalet she shared with another employee had a broken shower, damp coming through the walls and soiled mattresses.

After waking up one night feeling feverish and scratching herself, she went to the doctor and was told she had infected insect bites which were probably from rat fleas.

The chalet was fumigated but Ms Moon was asked to move back in 48 hours later.

She was dismissed in May 2008, allegedly because management found that the coffee shop was overstaffed.

The tribunal ruled however that although there was overstaffing no-one else was seriously considered.

It was far more likely, the tribunal said, that her dismissal was triggered by her having raised health and safety issues.

Hafan y Môr has been asked for a comment.

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